Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization

Here's a talk I gave at the Long Now Foundation about my optimistic hopes that the advent of the internet will mitigate threats that brought down previous civilizations.

This is an idea I've been working on for several years. It started as a short piece in Nature, then a short essay on Edge.org, and finally debuted as an iPad app called Why the Net Matters. For over a week this was the most watched video on fora.tv.

In the wake of the Aurora movie theater shooting, many people had the same questions: What kind of derangement is indicated by the horrific acts of James Holmes? What is wrong with his brain? How will his mental state play out in the courts?

Why Brain Science Matters

McGovern Award for excellence in Communication

David was honored to receive the 2014 John J. McGovern Award for Excellence in Biomedical Education from the American Medical Writers' Assocation. Noted past recipients include authors Oliver Sacks and Abraham Verghese.